Dear viewers, Venezuela may soon undergo a historic change.
“What are we?
Venezuela, what do we want?
Freedom”.)
“This is a crucial moment for the people of Venezuela”)
For the first time, it feels like we’re on the verge of witnessing the end of Chavez’s
Bolivarian Revolution.
“We’re giving our support to President Guaidó because we don’t agree with what
is happening in Venezuela, because we’ve practically had to leave as exiles.
We want justice and freedom to return.”)
As you all know, this man, Juan Guaidó, the President of the Venezuelan National Assembly,
has been proclaimed interim President of the country.
“The time of freedom is getting closer and closer”)
And over 50 world leaders along with almost all Latin American countries have already
recognized him as such.
“Guaidó is the person we’re talking to”
“The Spanish Government announces that it officially recognizes Mr. Juan Guaidó Márquez
as President in Charge of Venezuela”
“Colombia recognizes Juan Guaidó as President of Venezuela”
“Juan Guaidó as president in charge”
“The Parliament voted, we recognize him as interim president”)
All this, coupled with the United State’s recent sanctions which have frozen oil revenues,
have put the Bolivarian regime in a very tight spot.
Dear viewers, the scenario that Nicolás Maduro now faces is complicated, very complicated.
For one thing, not only has his authority been questioned in the global arena, opposition
from the Venezuelan population is also undeniable.
Secondly, the country is on the verge of collapsing as a whole, because it’s about to run out
of dollars and petrol.
Yes, petrol, you heard that correctly.
Up until now, Venezuela has been importing a significant chunk of its petrol from the
United States.
Check this out:
PDVSA imports 70% of the gasoline the domestic market consumes.
El Nacional)
But of course, now, with a virtually worthless Venezuelan currency and no ability to buy
dollars... those days are over.
So the question remains, can a country survive without petrol and without oil I doubt it.
And, you know what?
Nicolás Maduro and his henchmen know this, they know that their time may be about to
run out... forever.
But let’s consider what that would mean for just a moment.
More specifically, let’s look at these two questions:
One: How has the Chavista regime, now headed by Nicolás Maduro, survived for so long?
And, two: Is a peaceful transition possible?
Folks, the answer to both questions involves the same characters.
Listen up.
(THE BOLIVARIAN GESTAPO)
Now, let's not fool ourselves, changing Venezuela is going to be a very, very difficult task.
Even if Nicolás Maduro were to leave quietly.
The Bolivarian Revolution has not only plundered and destroyed the Venezuelan economy, it has
also created lots of networks and nefarious interests of all kinds.
Some of these networks have played a key role in allowing Nicolás Maduro to remain in power.
We’re talking mainly about two institutions which have been essential for the maintenance
of the entire Chavista regime.
The first is the regime’s formidable secret police, the SEBIN, or Bolivarian National
Intelligence Service.
The other is FAES, the Special Operations Forces.
We’re talking about two organizations that haven’t hesitated to kidnap, imprison, rob,
repress and “eliminate” political opponents and anyone whom the Chavista regime consider
a threat.
Two organizations that have become Nicolas Maduro’s army of personal bodyguards.
And even if there is a change of government in Venezuela, they would probably continue
operating in the shadows, dedicating themselves to their fields of expertise: robbery, extortion
and drug trafficking.
But how did it get to this point?
How do these organizations work?
What role do they really play?
That deserves a closer look.
.
Well, first things firstl, we have to acknowledge that this isn’t at all new.
Almost all dictatorships have been known to use armed forces to consolidate their power,
instil fear of speaking out against the government, and to get rid of political opponents.
Throughout the twentieth century perhaps the three most well-known cases were Mussolini’s
“OVRA” – an organization that kept an eye on and actively repressed antifascism,
Stalin’s “People's Commissariat for internal affairs” and the Nazi’s Gestapo.
The chief goal of these organizations was not so much about maintaining security or
upholding justice, but about consolidating power for their respective dictatorial governments.
Well, Venezuela’s case isn’t any different.
SEBIN and FAES aim to protect characters such as Diosdado Cabello:
“This individual is a drug trafficker.
I personally don’t pay him much attention because I don’t know if in a month, in six
months he’ll be in jail.
There’s no future for him.)
And, folks, as the economic crisis grows, these two armed groups have been stepping
up their activity.
We need look no further than January 2019.
After Juan Guaidó’s declaration as President and the subsequent public protests calling
for Nicolás Maduro to step down, Maduro used these organizations to try to silence the
protesters.
And here’s a question for you, Can you guess how they went about this?
It’s not so difficult because it’s straight out of the dictatorship playbook.
In the first week after Juan Guaidó’s proclamation, it’s estimated that 35 people were dispatched,
falling victims to these criminals, and more than 800 others were arrested.
(THE REVOLUTION’S “DIRTY WORK”)
Back in 2015, Nicolas Maduro created the PLO, the “Operation of the People's Liberation”
with the supposed objective of combating the growing violence that the country was experiencing.
It was a move that would have horrendous results for Venezuelans:
You see, between 2015 and 2016, it’s estimated that there were around 18,000 cases of arbitrary
arrests, searches without a warrant and even executions.
Building on this experience, the regime went on to create the FAES or “special action
forces” in 2017.
This was an intervention group with special training and very particular procedures.
Check this out:
“First, they use military force to take an area, as if they were an occupying army.
Then they proceed to “hunt” their objectives.
This isn’t about citizen security, where an offender’s actions are prevented or he’s
arrested within a legal framework, NO, in their case they understand that they have
to get rid of “elements” who aren’t so much people, as enemies of the regime.”
Keymer Ávila)
“The FAES work in popular neighborhoods with officers dressed in black and equipped
with sophisticated combat equipment.”
José Vicente Rangel, former Vice President of the Republic and former Defense Minister.)
So you could say that the FAES use brutality and fear as their default techniques.
And not only do they carry out random acts of extreme violence, they have also become,
in many cases, veritable criminal groups that have turned theft, organized crime and extortion
into sources of income.
And to top it off, they act hand in hand with the so-called “collectives”.
These are para-police groups, with many local volunteers amongst their ranks, created, armed
and financed by the Chavista regime.
They were first formed back in 2002 with the idea of controlling neighborhoods at grassroots
level.
That way, any Venezuelan who disagreed with the regime would not only r be controlled
by the police and the intelligence services but also by some of their very own neighbors.
Controlled... and, of course, terrified.
Because, folks, in many cases these “collectives” have taken the law into their own hands and
have e set up their own businesses, which are also linked to drug trafficking and extortion.
In return FAES often sets up its operatives within these “collectives” and their local
businesses.
Can you think of another country where the police act hand in hand with criminal gangs?
How about: Nicaragua.
And wouldn’t you know it!
They are one of Maduro’s allies.
Meanwhile SEBIN, the powerful Bolivarian National Intelligence Service created by Hugo Chavez
in 2010, hasn’t been left out.
“Venezuela has a set of hidden enemies, people who act and use public liberties to
conspire against the republic’s peace and tranquility.
And the SEBIN has been an extraordinary instrument to neutralize them..”)
The agents of SEBIN, a symbol of the repression in Venezuela, are in charge of the most delicate
operations, such as arresting and persecuting opponents, even if those opponents are Deputies
of the National Assembly or members of the Venezuelan Parliament.
“SEBIN has become one of the symbols of state terrorism implanted in Venezuela, it’s
an organization that has developed a policy of grave human rights violations.”
Marino Alvarado)
To this day, both groups operate from the shadows and with total impunity.
For example, no one really knows exactly how many agents work at SEBIN, nor how many people
have actually been detained, or who is in charge of the various departments.
The only thing we know for sure is that SEBIN is ruled by this man: Manuel Cristopher Figuera;who
is rumoured to be under the thumb of Tareck El Aissami, a high-ranking minister in Maduro’s
government and Vice President of the Economic Area.
A guy who, incidentally, is considered a drug trafficker by the United States.
We also know that SEBIN operates with such impunity that it even ignores the Bolivarian
courts themselves.
That’s right.
Let me explain.
There are numerous documented cases where political prisoners were ordered to be released
by the Bolivarian “justice system”, but they are still in jail because SEBIN simply
refuses to let them go.
Dear friends of VisualPolitik, the building you see in these images is perhaps the best
proof of the real disaster that Venezuela has suffered through in the last decades.
Let me explain.
This futuristic-looking building that evokes the Tower of Babel is the Helicoide.
Construction began in 1956 and it was intended to house a shopping centre and a luxury hotel.
These days it’s one of SEBIN’s two main headquarters.
This is where they have their holding cells.
Cells which, as you can imagine, are maintained in dreadful conditions.
“The cells have no bathrooms and you aren’t guaranteed medical attention.
Prisoners are almost always locked up, it could take weeks or months to be let out for
a few minutes.
I’ll never forget that the inspector who received me after my arrest told me: “Welcome
to hell.”
Vilca Fernández, former candidate for the National Assembly)
Once locked up, SEBIN agents charge the families of the inmates for necessary items such as
food.
Of course that money , goes directly into the agents’ own pockets.
But let’s get back to the subject at hand.
Do you know the extent of what these groups have done in recent years?
Well, according to information provided by the Organization of American States’s, we
could be talking in excess of 8,000 executions, mainly carried out by these groups.
And that’s only since 2015.
And the data from the Venezuelan Violence Observatory is even worse.
According to this organization, in 2018 alone, security forces got rid of more than 7,500
people.
Folks, SEBIN and FAES have not only been Nicolas Maduro’s armed wing, they have also been
the life support that has kept him in power.
If the time for change does come, they will no doubt cause quite a few headaches.
If these groups already have links with drug traffickers today, it wouldn’t be at all
unusual for this to become their main activity at a later date.
But we’ll talk about that in another video.
Now it's your turn.
Here’s a key question for you: In the interests of moving forwards, do you think amnesty should
be given to all the leaders involved in crimes such as kidnapping, plundering and destroying
Venezuela?
Leave your answer in the comments as well as in the survey.
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